{"id":702900,"date":"2026-05-29T20:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T20:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/702900\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T20:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T20:29:19","slug":"can-the-second-coming-of-tony-abbott-resurrect-the-liberal-party-or-is-it-another-step-towards-self-destruction-tony-abbott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/702900\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the second coming of Tony Abbott resurrect the Liberal party? Or is it another step towards \u2018self-destruction\u2019 | Tony Abbott"},"content":{"rendered":"

Immediately after ousting Sussan Ley, Angus Taylor<\/a> used his first press conference as opposition leader to debut a slogan he hoped would define a new era of Liberal conservatism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe door must be shut,\u201d Taylor said of his approach to prospective migrants who didn\u2019t subscribe to Australia\u2019s \u201ccore beliefs\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe door must be shut,\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n

The theme, the tone, the repetition, the rhythm: the echoes of another Liberal opposition leader rang loud and clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded exactly like Tony Abbott<\/a>,\u201d remarked one Liberal MP, wryly observing the only difference being that Abbott preferred his slogans to be three words, not five.<\/p>\n

Angus Taylor at his first press conference as opposition leader. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh\/Getty Images\u2018Another step on the road to self-destruction\u2019<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s 28th prime minister \u2013 the most powerful conservative in an increasingly conservative party \u2013 has long exerted influence over Taylor, rightwing MPs and Liberal rank-and-file members.<\/p>\n

But Abbott\u2019s prominence and power are set to rise to a new level after he was elected unopposed as Liberal party<\/a> president on Friday afternoon, marking a return to active political life seven years after losing his seat in federal parliament.<\/p>\n

The presidency is an unpaid, typically low-profile position overseeing the party\u2019s administrative and campaigning wing<\/a>, operating at arm\u2019s length from the parliamentary team.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s predecessor, the former South Australian premier John Olsen, was invisible to the public during his five years and two federal elections in the position.<\/p>\n

But few Liberals expect things to be similar under Abbott, whose prolific writing, frequent appearances on Sky News, involvement with right-wing groups and closeness to the Murdoch media empire have helped make him the most high-profile conservative in Australia.<\/p>\n

Sources say Taylor (right) asked Abbott to stand for the president\u2019s role despite reservations from some colleagues. Pictured: The political allies in 2015. Photograph: Mike Bowers\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Taylor and his allies believe Abbott is uniquely placed to resurrect the Liberal party from its lowest ebb, where it faces declining grassroots membership and existential political threats from teal independents and One Nation.<\/p>\n

But other Liberals \u2013 and not just factional rivals \u2013 fear the 68-year-old will become a toxic distraction, a de facto opposition leader whose obsession with culture wars will poison the party room and render it even more unelectable.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

One Liberal MP said installing Abbott was \u201canother step on the road to our self-destruction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another Liberal said of Abbott: \u201cSometimes he\u2019s brilliant, sometimes he\u2019s crazy, sometimes he\u2019s halfway in between. .<\/p>\n

\u201cBut paradoxically, he\u2019s the guy that might take us to the right further, but also the guy that was the number one prosecutor against One Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Unfinished business\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI owe the Liberal Party big time, and that\u2019s why I regard it as my duty to serve the party in this time of existential crisis,\u201d Abbott said in his acceptance speech on Friday.<\/p>\n

Liberal sources said Taylor, who was first elected to parliament in Abbott\u2019s landslide 2013 election win, asked the former leader to stand for the president\u2019s role despite reservations from some colleagues, including fellow conservatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome him to the role, because he\u2019s been one of our most successful opposition leaders in history, and he\u2019s going to work with me and rebuild the party,\u201d Taylor said, describing Abbott as a \u201cgreat patriot\u201d and a \u201cgreat believer in this country\u201d.<\/p>\n

A genuine desire to loyally assist the leader and the ailing Liberal party was a motivation for Abbott to accept the role, according to people familiar with his thinking.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another, more powerful, driver: \u201cunfinished business\u201d.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s eagerness to re-enter the political battleground has been met with mockery from his opponents. Pictured: Abbott at a Christian rally against antisemitism in 2024. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/p>\n

Abbott, according to allies, still believes he has more to contribute in Canberra after a 25-year political career was cut short by the independent Zali Steggall at the 2019 federal election.<\/p>\n

The former Warringah MP\u2019s \u201cfirst priority\u201d would be a return to federal parliament and the frontlines of Australian politics.<\/p>\n

Abbott was mentioned as a replacement to fill the late Jim Molan\u2019s senate seat in 2023. He was open to running in 2025 but remained on the sidelines to avoid creating a distraction for then leader Peter Dutton.<\/p>\n

His name was floated ahead of the Farrer byelection, which ended in crushing defeat for the Liberals, and is expected to be raised again ahead of the next ballot scheduled for 2028.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s eagerness to re-enter the political battleground has been met with mockery, scorn and bemusement from his opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony has always had a zeal for politics,\u201d said the One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce, who served in Abbott\u2019s first cabinet. \u201c(But) politics is like heroin, and once you get off it, you should go cold turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labor minister Chris Bowen sarcastically said, \u201cI cannot think of anyone better\u201d than Abbott for the position.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony Abbott has been utterly out of touch with the views of mainstream Australia for 20 years. If he is going to play a bigger role in Liberal party policy, that is bad for the Liberal party and good for the Labor party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For now, Abbott will have to settle for the \u201cceremonial\u201d position of party president, which includes chairing the Liberal federal executive: the party\u2019s top administrative decision-making body.<\/p>\n

Abbott, with Taylor, will effectively choose the Liberals\u2019 new campaign chief to replace the outgoing Andrew Hirst, forming a troika that will control all aspects of the party.<\/p>\n

The director of the right-wing lobby group Advance, Matthew Sheahan, is rumoured to be among the candidates under consideration, offering an insight into the direction the Liberal campaign machine could take under Abbott and Taylor.<\/p>\n

Sources said Abbott intends to use the position to push for the \u201cdemocratisation\u201d of all state and territory branches to give branch members power over candidate preselections.<\/p>\n

As the Liberals risk losing more seats and grassroots members to One Nation, one ally said his return would give conservatives \u201chope\u201d that the party was listening to their grievances.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s what Abbott might do beyond organisational reform and inspiring disillusioned members that is causing anxiety among Liberals.<\/p>\n

\u2018His views are offensive to many\u2019<\/p>\n

The party president traditionally does not have a role in developing or making policy decisions, creating a clear separation of powers from the parliamentary leader.<\/p>\n

But some Liberals fear Abbott won\u2019t be able to resist intervening, using his large public megaphone \u2013 including Sky News appearances with his former chief of staff, Peta Credlin \u2013 to influence a further rightward shift.<\/p>\n

Liberal MPs say Taylor wants the former PM back in the fold to replicate \u2018Tony Abbott-era magic\u2019. Pictured: Taylor giving his budget reply earlier this month. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The former prime minister takes an even more hardline stance than Taylor on issues such as immigration, including openly supporting aspects of White Australia-era policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis political views are offensive to many in the party,\u201d said one Liberal MP, who holds deep concern about Abbott\u2019s potential infiltration of the party room.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he continues to speak out on matters that interest him, the public will believe the party also holds those views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another said: \u201cThe concern is that he will, without question, influence the decision-making of the party-room and that will damage Angus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broadcast live on Sky News, Abbott\u2019s speech on Friday was delivered with the energy and fervour of a man itching for the political frontlines.<\/p>\n

He raged about emissions reduction, mass migration, the flag and the \u201cspiritual malaise\u201d that was plaguing the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job, individually and collectively is to lead a people\u2019s revolt to be rid of the worst government in living memory. I promise you, we are under new management,\u201d he said, repeating the same declaration he made on the night of the 2013 election.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s record as opposition leader in tearing down Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard was a major reason Taylor wanted him back in the fold as he attempts to do the same to Anthony Albanese.<\/p>\n

But one MP cautions that seeking to replicate \u201cTony Abbott-era magic\u201d was not necessarily going to work more than a decade later, where Labor is not the \u201chot mess\u201d \u2013 and least not yet \u2013 that it once was.<\/p>\n

But Taylor is trying.<\/p>\n

Waging a campaign against Albanese\u2019s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, the opposition leader is deploying the phrase \u201caxe Labor\u2019s toxic taxes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The echoes of the \u201caxe the tax\u201d line that Abbott used to kill Labor\u2019s carbon price are loud and clear.<\/p>\n

The only difference?<\/p>\n

Abbott preferred shorter slogans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Immediately after ousting Sussan Ley, Angus Taylor used his first press conference as opposition leader to debut a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-702900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}